Common Dental Emergencie Abscess Tooth An abscessed tooth is an infection that has occurred on or around the gums in the month. Usually a dental abscess will form between the gum and tooth or sometimes near the root of the tooth. When a tooth has damage, is broken, or has decay most dentists will try to fix the tooth with the normal dental crown or filling. There are times when the normal preventive maintenance will not repair a tooth and the tooth has too much damage to be repaired and therefore has to be extracted.